Tag Archives: 47 Ronin

The Perfect Woman

 

 

She would be exotic, mysteriously sensual, obedient, and pamper her man like a real woman should. In Slaying the Dragon: Asian Women In U.S. most of the Asian women were seen in that tone. Whether the character they played was evil, good, or a stand-by character, they definitely got the attention of the white man. One of the few things that was introduced at the beginning of the movie was how many men commented on how Asian women were “exotic” and in movie clips the women were wearing fitted dresses with slits half way up each side. Then, there was this clip about Suzy Wong and how she was seen as this very sensual being that created this trend of the long haired, party Asian girl. I feel like she portrayed the mysterious sensual role that most Asian women have in most movies. Lastly, Sayonara portrayed the image of Asian women having this role of pampering their husbands and being obedient to them. Overall, all these qualities create this image of the stereo-typed Asian woman.

In 47 Ronin there were 2 main women who played the different sides of the Asian woman stereotype. The woman that Kai fell in love with, Mika, portrayed the obedient, quiet, and polite role; on the other hand, the Witch was sensual-like with her graceful movements, she was very exotic, and pampered her master. In Joy Luck Club the June’s aunties, Ying Ying, An Mei, and Lindo, were young Asian girls who broke the stereotypes that were presented in Slaying the Dragon. For instance, Ying Ying married a man who was a cheater and could careless about him, yet she stayed in the relationship and did what he asked. An Mei and Lindo were like the outspoken ones. An Mei spoke out against her Father and “Big Mother” at her mother’s funeral and Lindo lied to her mother-in-law and everyone else present to get out of a marriage. They were all obedient; however, none of them grew up to still be obedient (in a way to roll over and do what they were told), they all became independent women.

Lastly, in Orientals I feel like the stereotypes of Asians in general, were created by the media. For instance, the “Third Sex” was a suppressing label for Asians. How this relates to the stereotypes of women, is how media affects the views of people. Everyone now has an expectation for Asian women to be sexual deviants, for pampering slaves, or Asian men to be this weird in-between sexual being. Overall, stereotypes have shaped peoples view of Asians in today’s society.

 

Hello 47 Ronin

Hello KeanuOh hi, Keanu Reeves. What are you doing in my movie?

I think that this movie is a great way to underscore one of my beliefs: some parts of culture don’t translate well to other cultures.

Now, the original legend of the 47 Rōnin is pretty cool in my book. My dad explained it to me as more of a psychological thriller than anything else. It might be telling about our culture, but I’m hard pressed to think of any American equivalent legend – the closest I can come is the Battle of the Alamo.

So how do you make it palatable to an American audience? Apparently you add Keanu Reeves and a love story. And this is where it all goes wrong.

Suddenly, the story changes to something about an outcast willing to do anything for his love. It feels like someone just stapled the two plot lines together, as if they thought the sum would be greater than the parts. It’s so obvious that you can’t suspend your disbelief to get lost in the story, like someone just yelling plot at you or something.

I’m willing to give people lots of credit when their heart is in the right place. Sure, some of the costuming is wrong. Sure, there were some Asian-y elements to the story as opposed to specifically Japanese parts.

But when you delete so much (my on-screen count never got higher than about 20 ronin, for example), I have to say that it sucks. And apparently I’m not alone in thinking that.

one more spoon of cough syrup

Post-watch impressions of 47 Ronin

Something that struck me while watching this film was the accuracy of it, from what I know of that time period and many traditions that were held at the time. I was very impressed with how traditional it was, the detail it went into, and the depth of the characters that were set up at the start of the film. Kai’s boundless devotion was admirable and heartbreaking, but perhaps more than that, so was Oishi’s.

Oishi spent the better part of a year in solitary confinement, in a pit that he had no way of even hoping to get out of. He was visibly weak when he was finally free, but he wasted no time at all. He spent no time in recovery, and instead set out immediately, leaving his loving wife behind so that he could find Kai, right his own mistakes to some extent, and save the girl he had sworn to protect, along with the legacy she carried. His character arc was absolutely splendid, and it is often rare that one has the opportunity to see so much growth.

On a more technical note, some of the cinematography in the movie was stunning, and the makeup on many of the actresses was incredibly well done. I was amazed at the transformation of Rinko Kikuchi in the film, so much so that I didn’t even recognize her until the credits were rolling and I saw her name.  Her acting was superb and made the film a delight to watch.

Before the Movie

The movie, “47 Ronin” seems like another Hollywood hyped up version of an older movie/story that relies on the actors and the special effects. While the movie is based off a true story the previews show that it take liberty with the story and adds a fantasy twist to it. It also seems to follow stereotypical portrayals of Asian females being “Dragon Ladies” that are villains with a heroic male saving the day.

47 Ronin

I wasn’t particularly sure what I was expecting to see in this film. Since I had not seen any previews or heard much about the film, I didn’t have any possible ideas.

I thought it was absolutely great to see a recent Hollywood film with almost all of the major roles filled by people of Japanese descent with such huge names. It was quite stunning cinematography, and the costuming was beautiful. I really enjoyed how it tried to blend fact and myth by adding in the mysticism and magic.

47 Ronin 2x

The first time I watched 47 Ronin I was a little dissapointed and confused. That reason was because I expected it to be one of those typical movies now-a-days where everything works out, you know what to expect, and there is a happy ending. Everybody who I wanted to live ended up dying, I was hardly right about what to expect, and I did not get my typical happy ending. However, after watching it the second time, I realized that there was more to this movie other than entertainment.

The second time around watching this movie, I understood that there were some truths to this tale. Though it was whimsical and magical, there was some historical facts behind it. In today’s society, we see suicide as an awful act no matter what the cost; however, in 47 Ronin, each samurai graciously accepted their punishment to kill themselves and be layed next to their master, with great pride, I might add. The first time I watched the movie, I was disappointed, but I now understand that that’s how things were back then in Japan. I see now that the movie is about loyalty, dedication, and pride. Every samurai in 47 Ronin had a place, a role, or a duty to fulfill and seeing the characters that way opposed to an entertainment character makes me understand the movie in a new scope. Overall, I ended up enjoying this movie and appreciating what it had to bring to the big screen.

47 Ronin

Once you accept the fact that this narrative has little connection to the historical tale of the 47 Ronin, it becomes a kind of “Kai and Oishi’s Excellent Adventure.” Kept waiting for Kai to call a fellow ronin, “dude.”

47 Ronin: Impressions

He looks just like me…..

 

To start off, I would give this movie a 6/10 if you like action scenes and Keanu Reeves. If you are trying to gain some knowledge about the Japanese tale of the 47 Ronin, I would give this a 2/10. The movie does provide the character’s names and it somehow manages to show the 47 ronin getting their revenge, however the entire plot revolves around witchcraft, magic, dragons and tengu, and of course a white savior. For somebody like me watching this film, I am already aware of the numerous hollywood influences that I should be looking for and I know deep down that it will not meet my expectations. This can be a double edged sword. On one hand, I can spend the entire movie picking it apart and finding its inaccuracies and fallacies. On the other hand, I can suspend my disbelief without caution because I am already aware of its shortcomings and I know it was not geared towards retelling the tale with historical accuracy. What is truly scary about this movie is that there will be many people seeing this film who have the potential to be influenced by it’s portrayal of Japan and it’s history. I like to imagine a young child seeing this movie and actually believing that Japan used to have dragons and magical beasts that roamed the mysterious lands. The narrator even states in the beginning that to understand this tale, one must first understand old Japan. And then the movie goes right into magic. So, from the perspective of somebody impressionable and unaware of the movie’s inaccuracy, this might seem like a wonderful and mystical tale of 47, well at least I think there were 47, ronin who avenge their lords death with the help of a magical outsider. This outsider is allowed to fulfill his love quest with the lords daughter, who was off limits to him, but then has to make a tragic entrance by way of ritual suicide. What a gripping tale, eh? One last thing; the fight scenes included a lot of unorthodox katana wielding and if you are trying to tell a tale of old Japan, you could at least make them look like trained samurai.